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Legal Cynicism Among Civically-Engaged Youth VARSTVOSLOVJE, Journal of Criminal Legal Cynicism among Justice and Security, year 16 no. 4 Civically-Engaged Youth pp. 492‒517 Rachel Swaner, Avi Brisman Purpose: This article examines young people’s attitudes towards and interactions with the police, as well as the court system and law, more generally – particularly those living in socially and economically disadvantaged communities where cynicism and scepticism about the efficacy and fairness of law enforcement officers tend to run high. Design/Methods/Approach: Using survey data from 133 teenagers voluntarily participating in programs at a courthouse in Brooklyn, NY (USA), this study seeks to better understand non-delinquent youths’ feelings of fairness of the law, confidence in the court system, and attitudes towards the police. Findings: T-tests and multiple regression analyses reveal that legal cynicism among these youth is high, stemming from feelings of discrimination and inequitable enforcement. Having had a recent negative interaction with a police officer is a significant predictor of having more negative attitudes toward the police, though having had a positive interaction was not a statistically significant predictor of more positive attitudes. Research Limitations/Implications: This study looks only at a physically disconnected urban area in the United States where crime is high, and the population is predominantly Black and Hispanic. In addition, a more qualitative narrative might help reveal the reasons why young people, especially those in poor, high-crime areas who are affected by saturated policing and those who have negative attitudes towards them, are still interested in working with formal mechanisms of social control. Practical Implications: The survey’s focus on process and fairness implies that what may be most important in improving public trust and confidence in the system is treating all who come through it with respect. Though negatively disposed towards criminal justice agencies, young people do not exist in a state of normlessness. Much potential exists to meaningfully partner with them for the purpose of achieving greater fairness criminal justice processes. Public policy would benefit by actively involving young people in community-based youth crime-reduction programs. Originality/Value: Ours is the first study to look exclusively at nondelinquent youth who have come voluntarily to an institution of formal social control – a court. 492 Rachel Swaner, Avi Brisman UDC: 343(73) Keywords: attitudes/dispositions toward police, civic engagement, legal cynicism, youth Pravni cinizem med družbeno-aktivno mladino Namen prispevka: Članek preučuje odnos mladih do policije in interakcije z njo ter odnos do sodnega sistema in prava na splošno. Preučuje predvsem tiste mlade, ki živijo v socialno in ekonomsko prikrajšanih skupnostih, kjer cinizem in skepticizem o učinkovitosti in pravičnosti policistov običajno dosegata visoko raven. Metode: Z uporabo podatkov iz raziskave, kjer je sodelovalo 133 najstnikov, ki prostovoljno sodelujejo pri programih sodišča v Brooklynu (NY, ZDA), poskuša študija bolje razumeti čustva nedelinkventnih mladostnikov o pravičnosti zakona, zaupanju v sodni sistem in odnosu do policije. Ugotovitve: T-testi in multiple regresijske analize kažejo, da je pravni cinizem med anketiranimi mladimi visok in izhaja iz občutkov diskriminacije in neenakega izvrševanja pooblastil. Nedavna negativna izkušnja s policistom je pomemben napovednik za bolj negativen odnos do policije, čeprav pa pozitivna izkušnja ne predstavlja statistično pomembnega napovednika za bolj pozitiven odnos. Omejitve/uporabnost raziskave: Študija je bila opravljena zgolj v fizično izločenem urbanem območju v Združenih državah Amerike, kjer je stopnja kriminalitete visoka in kjer pretežno prebivajo Afro- in Latinoameričani. Poleg tega bi lahko bolj kvalitativno naravnana pripoved pomagala razkriti razloge, zakaj so mladi, zlasti tisti iz revnih območij z veliko kriminalitete, zasičenih s policijsko dejavnostjo, ter tisti, ki imajo negativen odnos do policije, še vedno zainteresirani za delo s formalnimi mehanizmi družbenega nadzorstva. Praktična uporabnost: Osredotočenost raziskave na proces in pravičnosti pomeni, da je prav spoštljiva obravnava vseh, ki se znajdejo v sistemu, najbolj pomemben dejavnik izboljšanja zaupanja javnosti v sistem. Čeprav so negativno razpoloženi do organov kazenskega pravosodja, mladi ne morejo obstati v stanju brez norm in pravil. Velik potencial predstavlja smiselno partnerstvo z njimi z namenom doseganja večje pravičnosti v postopkih kazenskega pravosodja. Javna politika bi imela koristi z aktivnim vključevanjem mladih v v-skupnost-usmerjene programe za zmanjševanje kriminalitete mladih. Izvirnost/pomembnost prispevka: Naša študija je prva, ki se je usmerila izključno na neprestopniške mlade, ki so prostovoljno prišli do institucije formalnega družbenega nadzorstva – sodišča. 493 Legal Cynicism among Civically-Engaged Youth UDK: 343(73) Ključne besede: odnos do policije, družbeno udejstvovanje, pravni cinizem, mladi 1 INTRODUCTION “The police will pull you over for your pants hanging down,” says Daquan, who subsequently grabs his pants and yanks them down a bit for effect.1 “They could be walkin’ up on you asking you questions for no reason,” O’karo states. “Some are jerks,” Wilfredo announces. “They racist,” Anquette opines. “Sometimes [the police] arrest you for no apparent reason,” Natasha laments. The scene is a mock courtroom at the Red Hook Community Justice Center (RHCJC) – a multi-jurisdictional problem-solving court located in the heart of Red Hook neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY (USA). A group of African-American and Latino/Hispanic teenagers, fourteen-to-eighteen years of age (although most are fifteen or sixteen), have gathered in the courtroom for a group interview. Each is hoping to earn a place in a ten-week long unpaid training program for the Red Hook Youth Court (RHYC) – a juvenile diversion program designed to prevent the formal processing of juvenile offenders (usually first-time offenders) within the juvenile justice system (see Brisman, 2010/2011). The teenagers who are selected from the pool of applicants must complete the training program and pass a “bar exam” in order to serve as RHYC members, where they will help resolve actual cases involving their peers (e.g., assault, fare evasion, truancy, vandalism). All of the teenagers who have come for the group interview have done so voluntarily. In other words, while some of the teenagers may have been encouraged to apply to the training program by a family member, none of the teenagers in the group interview is there as a result of a court order or pursuant to a threat of punishment from within the criminal justice system. Yet, as the above-quoted statements suggest, many of the teenagers possess less-than-positive views of law enforcement. While a few teenagers express the belief that the police “protect the community” or “solve crimes” and while others offer more qualified or nuanced statements, such as, “the police do help out, but they do bad stuff” and “they protect and enforce the law, but some of them abuse their power”, the majority of responses reflect a dislike – and sometimes a strong dislike – for law enforcement. Research across the social sciences indicates a lack of confidence in the fairness or effectiveness of the judiciary in the United States, and in the criminal justice system and criminal law, more specifically (see, e.g., Fagan, 2008; Tyler, 2004; see also Alexander, 2013; Brisman, 2010/2011; Editorial, 2009, 2011, 2012; cf. Huebner, 1 “Daquan” is a pseudonym, as are all of the names used to identify youth in this article. 494 Rachel Swaner, Avi Brisman Schafer, & Bynum, 2004).2 While this crisis of confidence crosses racial categories and spans the socioeconomic spectrum, a widespread distrust and a lack of faith in the courts and the criminal justice system are particularly pronounced in minority communities (Rottman & Hansen, 2001; see also DeKeseredy, 2011; Editorial, 2007; Hurdle, 2007; Kirk & Matsuda, 2011; Perry, 2009; Tyler & Huo, 2002; Tyler & Waksladk, 2004; cf. Carlson, 2012).3 Indeed, a high level of dissatisfaction with police is common among residents of poor, crime-ridden neighborhoods (Anderson, 1999; Chriss, 2007; Huang & Vaughn, 1996; MacDonald & Stokes, 2006; Sampson & Bartush, 1998; Smith, Graham, & Adams, 1991), and African-Americans and the poor, in particular, are considerably more likely to perceive the criminal system as unjust (Fagan, 2008; Hagan & Shedd, 2005; Nielsen, 2000; Rottman & Hansen, 2001; Scott, 2002; Sherman, 1993; Van Craen, 2013; see also Ewick & Silbey, 1998). For example, Hagan and Albonetti (1982) examined perceptions of “criminal injustice” and found that African Americans and members of the lowest social class were more likely to perceive criminal injustice than Caucasians and members of the upper class, respectively. While this was true for many of the legal system players, such as the court and judges, the relationship between race and perceptions of injustice was particularly strong for items involving the police, substantiating the findings of other studies (e.g., Block, 1971; Hahn, 1971; Smith & Hawkins, 1973) and subsequently confirmed by Huang and Vaughn (1996) and Smith et al. (1991). While Tyler and Fagan (2008) have found that African-Americans may have even higher levels of distrust of the courts and the criminal justice system than of the police, research has also has demonstrated that: (1)
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